Pop Culture and Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Morality, and Gender

Pop Culture and Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Morality, and Gender

Popular culture is heavily rooted in society. Despite its source, either from mass culture theory or critical theory descriptions, its impacts on society are apparent. Impacts affect aspects of society such as race, ethnicity, sexual morality, and gender. Mass culture points to mass media as a significant contributing factor to popular culture and its multiple impacts on society. Mass media include television, radio, and newspapers; such as films, music, and art, amongst others (Storey, 2018). Mass media produces and spreads popular culture for its mass population, who are consumers of whatever is mass-produced. The productions from mass media influence how people in a society view themselves and how they view others in terms of gender, ethnicity, morality, and race.

Bell Hook, in the video “Cultural Criticism and Transformation,” presents views on culture. Hook’s views on culture elaborate on the role of media in influencing people’s views and ideologies. The ideas in the video establish that whatever the media portrays influences how people perceive components and aspects of their society (ChallengingMedia, 2006). Accordingly, I agree with Hook’s view on the role of mass media on culture regarding aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity, and morality. Society consists of stereotypes, and productions of mass media comprise numerous stereotypes. Stereotypes are the general beliefs concerning a given group, including on the basis of gender, race, sex, and social status, among other aspects. Stereotypes categorize and group given behaviors and traits under certain categories, such as the typical societal attributes of people considered to be masculine or feminine (Hentschel et al., 2019). Stereotypical ideologies continue to be passed through mass media to the mass population, providing opportunities for people to learn. Further, these stereotypes can also be broken using mass media to promote a popular culture that is against the stereotypical norms through mass productions for a mass population.

Popular culture influences people’s views on gender. Mass productions from mass media project people’s gender differently, painting a picture of what people should conform to in society and what is considered nonconformity (Kidd, 2018). People’s identities involve their race, gender, ethnicity, and morality, amongst other aspects such as religion and age. The portrayals from mass media influence how people view themselves and others. Gender is a societal aspect that is heavily depicted in mass media with topics such as feminism. Sexualization of culture is a great part of popular culture in terms of sexual identity and values (Gill & Orgad, 2018). Sexuality is a part of gender identity and also influences ethnicity. Fantasized productions from mass media contained aspects that the mass population wanted and consumed readily; subsequently, views on gender were expanded.

Popular culture influences views on race. Race and racism are portrayed differently in numerous media sources. The mass population consuming the ideologies of race is shown the diverse perspectives of race and racism. According to Storey (2018), race is a product of culture and not nature, as is portrayed by mass media. Consistently, society and the diverse cultures of individuals have contributed to the traits associated with given races. Additionally, aspects such as race and gender influence the ethnicity of individuals. Ethnicity involves groupings based on similar attributes without restrictions to only race or gender, including ideologies and values. In addition, in mass culture, profits determine the culture, and in the absence of morality, the mass population consumes whatever is produced through mass media. Consistently, the question of the impacts of race, ethnicity, gender, and morality on the production of mass media is raised with its effects on culture.

Mass media plays numerous roles in how people view societal differences. These differences include race, gender, and ethnicity, amongst others. In many instances, mass media promotes stereotypes that function to exaggerate differences in people in societies. These differences involve traits such as race and gender; portrayals may involve feminine or masculine properties, racial traits, and even ethnic characteristics. For instance, people’s view on the Queer community has evolved over time due to popular culture because of how it was produced and shared over mass media, influencing societies to be more accepting and inclusive. Therefore, mass media promotes inequality through exclusion and exaggeration of differences by promoting stereotypes. Information passed through mass media is exaggerated for numerous reasons, including humor or realism (Kidd, 2018), creating the categories that people group themselves, including freaks and the traits that aid in this category.

Mass media portrays different aspects of society in various ways. One method of portrayal involves reinforcing the viewpoints of the white, male, and corporate culture. These viewpoints include family and society setups. For instance, under a family setup, the inequality between men and women is apparent with both physical and psychological abuse, in which men are mainly portrayed as the abusers while, in some cases, women are the abusers. Secondly, race and racism are a great part of mass media content, whereby the whites are portrayed to be superior to the minorities such as Hispanics or African Americans. These minorities are portrayed as the majority of the poor dwelling in poverty, while whites are portrayed as upper-class minorities (Iceland, 2019). The increase in fatality cases amongst African Americans due to police brutality establishes these viewpoints that are of white, male, and corporate culture basis, the most recently known involving the late George Floyd.

In conclusion, mass media plays a significant role in popular culture. Popular culture influences numerous aspects of society, including race, ethnicity, sexual morality, and gender. Further, mass media is influenced by mass culture, which is influenced by profits and not other aspects of society, such as gender, morals, or race. Bell Hook stipulates the power of mass media by establishing its role in popular culture, which directly influences individuals and their views on society and people in a society.

References

ChallengingMedia. (2006). Bell hooks: Cultural Criticism & Transformation [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s&t=5s.

Gill, R., & Orgad, S. (2018). The shifting terrain of sex and power: From the ‘sexualization of culture’ to <i>#</i>MeToo. Sexualities, 21(8), 1313-1324. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460718794647

Hentschel, T., Heilman, M., & Peus, C. (2019). The Multiple Dimensions of Gender Stereotypes: A Current Look at Men’s and Women’s Characterizations of Others and Themselves. Frontiers In Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011

Iceland, J. (2019). Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Poverty and Affluence, 1959–2015. Population Research And Policy Review, 38(5), 615-654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-019-09512-7

Kidd, D. (2018). Pop culture freaks (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Storey, J. (2018). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction (8th ed.). Routledge.

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Do you agree or disagree with hooks’ views? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s&t=5s Support your position.

Pop Culture and Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Morality, and Gender

Does mass media promote images of equality by leveling racial, ethnic, and gender differences or do they promote inequality through exclusion and exaggeration of difference?
Does mass media reinforce the viewpoints of white, male, corporate culture or does mass allow for the authentic expression of racial, ethnic, and sexual identity? Give examples to support your position
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